A Florida man has been arrested for allegedly making threats against President Joe Biden, just days after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The U.S. Attorney office for the Northern District of Florida said 39-year-old Jason Patrick Alday of Quincy, Florida, was arrested Monday and faces charges related to sending threatening communications, making threats against President Biden, and threats against federal officials. Alday was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force and the U.S. Secret Service.
According to court documents obtained by Scripps News, an intake coordinator at the Apalachee Center mental health facility in Tallahassee, Florida, contacted the Secret Service in June about Alday, who was being admitted as a patient at the center. The worker claimed that during the intake process, Alday said, "I don't like President Biden. I want to kill him, slit his throat," before he was eventually transported to a local hospital for care unrelated to his mental health.
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Court documents state that Secret Service Agents then located and interviewed Alday on July 1 at his parents' home, during which he denied ever making the threatening statement about President Biden. However, agents claim Alday then got frustrated with their line of questioning and said that he did not like the president.
Days later on July 11, the Secret Service became aware of a social media account believed to belong to Alday that had posted several threatening statements on X — formerly Twitter — about President Biden, as well as racist death threats toward the Secret Service agent who interviewed Alday.
Upon investigation, the Secret Service learned that Alday's same name, address and date of birth were all linked to the account, giving them probable cause to arrest him. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Welch.
